Raised by Another (#1.09)

Raising Hope: The Best Show You Always Forget About

You're not alone.  I forget about this show all the time, too.  I don't understand why.  It is incredibly funny.  I always enjoy the time I spend watching it.  And when I do remember it, I look forward to it.  I suppose it doesn't help that it was thrown into an untimely hiatus for baseball (yawn) over the last few weeks.  Maybe it just doesn't get nearly the advertising it deserves.  Still, you'd think I'd be able to remember a show that I dubbed the Best Returning Comedy Premiere.  In any case, Raising Hope is way too good for this kind of treatment.  Now, let me tell you why...

The premise is simple, but unique.  Twenty-three-year-old Jimmy Chance has a one-night stand with a woman he later finds out is a serial killer.  She gets pregnant and, shortly after giving birth, is executed for her crimes.  This puts the newborn baby Princess Beyoncé into the hands of Jimmy, his parents Burt and Virginia, and his nutty great-grandmother, Maw Maw.  They change the baby's name to Hope and begin this unexpected journey of trying to raise her.  (Hence, Raising Hope.  Get it?) 

The series was created by Greg Garcia, the same guy that gave us My Name is Earl.  I haven't seen much Earl in my time, so I am very limited when it comes to making comparisons.  I can tell you that Hope has quite a few guest stars from Earl and that both shows tread the same poor-white-trash waters.  This doesn't so much comment on why Raising Hope is so good, except that it was created by a seasoned TV comedy writer.

The cast for Raising Hope is where this series really starts to shine.  Cloris Leachman is a comedy legend and even though they are (hilariously) crediting her as "Introducing Cloris Leachman," I'd be shocked if you didn't already know her.  In Hope, she plays Maw Maw, the rarely lucid and increasingly crazy great-great-grandmother to the baby, Hope.  Her antics, no matter how silly and absurd, are hilarious and sometimes feel familiar to those of us with aging parents.  Yeah, I said it.  I love you, Mom and Dad :)

Hope's grandmother, Virginia, is played by Martha Plimpton, who received an Emmy nomination for the role.  She definitely deserved it.  Actually, after Amy Poehler for her third season as Leslie Knope, Plimpton was my choice to win the award.  It took me too long to make this connection, but you might know her better from The Goonies.

Rounding out the rest of the main cast is Garret Dillahunt as Burt, Lucas Neff as Jimmy, and Shannon Woodward as Sabrina. Kate Micucci also guest stars with her ukulele.

And although I haven't always been the biggest fan of Jimmy, this season he is definitely growing on me.  They stopped making him only the straight-man and let out a little bit of his wacky side.  The same is becoming true of Sabrina.  She's not the "normal" one anymore.

Don't even get me started on Hope, herself.  The twins that play her, Bayley and Rylie Crecut, are beyond adorable.  And if the cuteness alone doesn't win you over, this show gets some really good performances out of those babies.  Now I know what you're thinking, babies can't really act, but watch the episode "Killer Hope" and tell me there wasn't at least a part of you frightened by the looks Hope was giving.

As for the story-lines, they are very easy to relate to, especially in times like these where we are all struggling a little bit.  We might not have the same ways of dealing with these situations - like simply living on your lawn for a few days while the house is tented for termites - but the scenarios are familiar nonetheless.  We can sympathize with Chance family when they realize Jimmy will never be the musician he could have been.  We, too, might be disappointed that our cousin got the dream wedding we always wanted.  We might not try to copy it from the back of the room, but we feel the sting of jealousy all the same.

Burt and Virginia have one of my favorite marriages on TV* and the will-they-won't-they romance of Jimmy and Sabrina grows a little bit each episode.  As they say in the video above, Raising Hope is also a little bit twisted, and I think that is what gives it an edge over other comedies.  It is first a comedy about a family, but not one like any other I've ever known.  The characters are lovable and relatable, but quirky and strange in all their own ways.

Raising Hope easily blends that magical combination of heart and hilarity.  It astounds me how easily I forget about it, but for whatever reason, it is certainly worth the effort to remember.  Or just set your DVR.  Then you'll have an awesome surprise each week when you check your list of recordings.










*Probably second only to Andy and April from Parks and Recreation.